Customer Reviews

Sara Moulton Cooks at Home

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Sara Moulton is by far my favorite TV chef, and I've been watching her for about 3 years on both "Cooking Live" and "Sara's Secrets." If you've ever tried her recipes that are available from her shows, then you know that her style of cooking is simply all around good food. Her show has inspired me to try new things and styles of cooking, and this cookbook continues in that tradition.

The recipes in this cookbook appear to be a bit more difficult than the ones that she usually features in her shows, but they are still very reasonable. The variety of recipes runs from hors d'oeurves to soups to meat dishes to deserts. There are even separate sections on vegetarian main courses and breakfast foods. Most of the meat dishes also include a tidbit letting you know the appropriate wine to serve with that dish. The beginning of the book includes a special section that defines what the the items in recipes mean (like when she says eggs, she means large ones). I especially like the section she calls Pantry. This includes simple recipes for essentials such as chicken stock and vinaigrette dressing.

She has included personal stories with almost every recipe, and many of the recipes have been inspired by close friends and family. For example, she tells how her sister makes wonderful cookies and has continued making cookies their grandmother Ruth made, hence the setup for Ruth Moulton's Spice Balls. These personal touches help bring life to the cookbook.

I do wish there were more pictures of the food, however. Even though my cooking never looks as perfect as the pictures in the cookbooks, I like having an idea of how it's supposed to turn out. I do wish there were just a few more recipes that are styled for a quick meal- most of the recipes are a bit time intensive.

I strongly recommend this cookbook, but just keep in mind it's not for a beginner.

As the title of her book indicates, Sara Moulton's recipes are aimed precisely at what one would want to cook at home if you enjoy cooking, have the time to spend on longer procedures, and do not wish to chase after a lot of special ingredients. In a way, that sounds like a very retro scenario, predating the current popularity of fast cooking, the renaissance of gourmet cooking of the seventies and eighties, the convenience product / soup can cooking of the fifties, and the dark days of the thirties and forties. If you ignore the cosmopolitan sources of many recipes, this a refurbished look at the kind of cooking your first generation American grandmother or great grandmother did at home.

That is not to say these recipes are especially easy. Many are not. However, I have made several dishes from this book and I have gotten more personal favorites from this book than from all my Italian cookbooks combined. That doesn't mean these are the very best recipes either, but they work. When you compare Sara's recipes for chicken stock with those in `The Best Recipe', you find many differences, but I will bet on Sara's recipe or even James Beard's recipe over the `Best Recipe'.

Sara's book includes several things I love to find in a cookbook.

First, it's very chatty and informative about how she arrived at the recipe. Outside of the kitchens of Thomas Keller, Tom Colicchio, and Charlie Trotter, for example, there are probably very few genuinely new recipes being created even today. Almost all are variations on traditional classics. How many ways, for example have you seen tomato, basil, and mozarella combined. You will see at least five more variations on this very old theme on the Food Network over the next year.

Second, Sara revels in her roots, and she has very interesting roots to celebrate, as her mentors are three of the most distinguished culinary writers of the last fifty years, including Jean Anderson, Jacques Pepin, and the incomparable Julia Child, for which Sara was an assistant for many years.

Third, the book begins with a feature which should be manditory in all cookbooks. The notes on how to use this book give the meaning of a large number of common ingredients such as eggs meaning large eggs, flour meaning general purpose flour, and butter meaning unsalted butter.

The book includes a wider variety of dishes than you may find in restaurant or speciality cuisine cookbooks. It also contains a lot of classics such as crab cakes, fried green tomatoes, apple strudel, rice pudding and oven fried chicken. While these are classics, there is usually some twist to make them fresh.

I would recommend this as a very good second cookbook, after the `Joy of Cooking', `James Beard's American Cookery', or Mark Bittman's `How to Cook Everything'. The recipes will be fresher and have greater cachet by being able to announce that they are from a celebrity chef.One caveat is that this will not teach great technique, so your third book should be the excellent books on cooking technique by Jaques Pepin or James Peterson.

This is a terrific cookbook and while I feel that the title might lead some to believe that the food prepared here is more basic than what is prepared on her Food TV shows, the opposite is actually true. That said, it's important to note that these recipes, while not primer-simple are still straight-forward, well written and very user friendly.

Menu/accompaniment suggestions are included as well as wine suggestions and from my experience, they work beautifully together. The combination of Tarragon Chicken,Lemon Roasted Potatoes and Provencal Tomatoes is one of my personal favorites.

There is a great variety of recipes here that can be used for family meals as well as entertaining. A very "able" book - usable, doable, reasonable recipes. This one will not collect dust on a shelf.

This unassuming and talented TV chef finally brings out a cookbook for most homes, not complex or pretentious ingredients and techniques, but solid food for family and guests.

Sara has a broad repertoire and here shares what she has discovered as a home chef herself, providing solid fare for daily eats and also special entertaining occassions.

Included in over 200 recipes on 375 pages are such great eats as: Creamy Lime Corn Soup with Cumin Salted Tortilla Strips; Indian Style Shepherd's Pie;Mom"s Meatball Stroganoff; Hungarian Pork Cutlets;Salmon in Phyllo with Peperoncini and Smoked Salmon Stuffing;Portobello Burgers with Red Peppers and Gorgonzola;

Many will find perfect, fulfilling dishes to proudly serve family and dining guest as well.

With great instructions and sources and advice on purchase, this will bless many of Sara's many fans, and make many more.

Sara Moulton is the Executive Chef for Gourmet Magazine and Food Editor for Good Morning America. She has hosted several shows on Food Network. She is a graduate of the CIA, has cooked in famous kitchens like La Tulipe, and worked on Julia Childs' televison show. The friends she acknowledges in the book's Introduction are a veritable "Who's Who in Food Today".

Her husband is Bill Adler, a very prominent person in the recording industry, and her Mother, Elizabeth, is the former Editor of, ( I believe), Glamour Magazine, so Sara has not only an impressive resume, but very good connections.

You might expect such a person to have quite a formidable presence. On television Sara Moulton comes across as one of the most down-to-earth people you would ever hope to meet, and her book seems to confirm this image. She begins one recipe with, "Whenever I have homemade chicken stock in the freezer, I feel happy". And, you have to believe she sincerly means just that.

The recipes range from simple to elegant, but are all designed to be cooked and eaten at home. Sara is proud to label herself a "working Mom" to her two children, and her philosophy on food and eating might be summed up in the quote, "A home-cooked meal is always a great gift, as is sitting down to dine."

The book is very straightforward in its compilation, with short personal comments to accompany most recipes. The instructions are concise and easy to follow, and the book is full of handy tips such as, "... the best way to store ginger?". There are a few pages of colored photos of dishes, and numerous black and white family album pictures throughout the book. Michael Green, Gourmet's Wine Consultant, provides a chapter on pairing food and wine as well as tips and suggestions throughout the book

You could do a lot worse than to own this cookbook.

I've watched Sara for years on Food TV and have downloaded tons of recipes from her show. Now she has the best recipes in her book. They are easy to make and delicious to eat. Besides the fun stories behind each recipe, Sara also has suggestions for appropriate side dishes and even wine suggestions. This is a great cookbook for a beginning cook and also for anyone who wants to add mouthwatering and simple recipes to their weekly menues without breaking the bank or having to drive around town hunting for rare ingredients. Bon appetite!

I have been waiting for Sara to write a cookbook for a long time now. I made the chicken picata last night and substituted veal for the chicken and it was delicious, quick and easy! Thanks Sara!

As a very busy working mom I find Sara's book to be to the point, interesting and reliable. So far every recipe I've tried has worked and tasted great. Her tips are helpful; her anecdotes charming. Overall this book is a must have for any kitchen, especially that of a busy household.

I purchased this book as a birthday present for my mother. She is a huge fan of Sara Moulton. I had never watched Sara's show on the Food Network, but I paged through this book before giving it to my mom. Wow! Great recipes, easy to follow. I'm hooked. I will have to get my own copy of this book. I highly recommend it!

I purchased this book as a birthday present for my mother. She is a huge fan of Sara Moulton. I had never watched Sara's show on the Food Network, but I paged through this book before giving it to my mom. Wow! Great recipes, easy to follow. I'm hooked. I will have to get my own copy of this book. I highly recommend it!